Silver Lakes homeowners to decide on rental cap

HELENDALE • A controversial proposal to impose a rental cap on homes in the Silver Lakes residential community is up for election Saturday.

The Silver Lakes Association is eyeing an amendment that would limit the number of rentals to no more than 25 percent of residential lots in the quiet lakefront community off National Trails Highway about 14 miles northwest of Victorville.

Currently, renters occupy between 20 percent and 21 percent of 2,700 units in Silver Lakes, according to Sandy Wojecki, general manager of the homeowners association. She estimates the neighborhood had 132 foreclosures in 2011.

Proponents of rental restrictions say more owner-occupied homes would improve property values, reduce blight and increase new buyers' chances at qualifying for loans, with lenders wary of neighborhoods with high rental rates. (Click here to read a statement in favor of the amendment.)

"Silver Lakes is not a rental property or apartment community. It was designed and developed as a single-family owner-occupied residential community," reads a statement in favor of the proposed lease amendment distributed to voters. The statement added that investors and off-site owners often "do not have the same commitment to the quality of the community."

But opponents question the change as an unnecessary encroachment on property rights that could have negative economic effects, such as more foreclosed homes sitting vacant and current owners having trouble selling their homes to an investor or future retiree. They advocate instead for the association doing a better job of enforcing current rules and its crime-free lease addendum. (Click here to read a rebuttal to the proposal.)

"Who will purchase these vacant homes if we eliminate the 50 to 60 percent of available buyers?" reads a rebuttal to the amendment sent to voters. "Purchased homes by investors provide improved occupied properties and the collected rent pays the association dues for the upkeep of the common areas."

Under the proposed amendment, current property owners would be grandfathered into the original rental policy and not prohibited from renting — as required by Senate Bill 150, a state law that took effect Jan. 1.

But should the association's proportion of renters exceed 25 percent, new owners looking to rent would be put on a leasing wait list. Residences would also have to be owned for at least one year before they could be leased and no lots could be sublet.

The rental cap policy would include a one-year hardship exemption based on changes in health, work, family or financial conditions.

Bernadette McNulty, who has been opposing the lease limit as part of the group Owners Opposed to Property Stupidity, said the hardship exemption raises the question of board members making subjective decisions and potentially opening up the association to discrimination lawsuits. McNulty said she's concerned that driving away low-income tenants with rental subsidies was the real motivator behind some of the amendment's proponents.

That hasn't been a stated reason for imposing rental restrictions, according to Wojecki.

There's a strong chance the association won't have enough voter turnout to even establish a quorum to qualify the election results.

At least 75 percent of voters must approve the change to incorporate it into the association's Declaration of the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, or CC&Rs.

Only 33 percent members turned out for the last election, Sojecki recalled, and the highest turnout she's seen was around 50 percent.

Association members can cast votes from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Silver Lakes Clubhouse, 27801 Mountain Springs Road in Helendale. The election results are set to be announced at 1 p.m.

Natasha Lindstrom may be reached at (760) 951-6232 or at NLindstrom@VVDailyPress.com.

Get complete stories every day with the "exactly as printed" Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.